


Airy Terrain

by nonky



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 02:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21438898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: "Good morning. I came to settle up about the repairs to Nancy's car. Charge me what's fair, including labour. I just need an invoice for my insurance company when you figure out the numbers."A melodramatic twitch of his brain had made Nick think it was a payoff, a kind of bribe to let Nancy down gently and leave town. He was happy it wasn't, but his back was up now.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Kudos: 4
Collections: Nancy Drew TV Series (2019)





	Airy Terrain

Nick liked to leave the door open when he was working. It let in natural light and helped him perk up while he was waiting for Nancy to deliver his coffee. It ventilated the space better than just the fans, and it made a good mental division between his private hours in his loft and the hours he might see a new J. Dodd's customer pull up. 

The big garage roof wasn't very homey, though it did a great job amplifying a good rock song. He liked the space, and the ability to stroll into the parking lot for no real reason. Closed doors gave security, but locked ones were hard. A wall sized door was a good substitute for having a living room.

He had an engine dismantled on the bench, his hands greasy and leaving prints over his paper coffee cup. He mumble sang the odd lyric with the radio, but mostly immersed himself in the parts he was checking and replacing. 

A car pulled up, giving him a moment to stand tall and stretch away the constricted gaze of finely detailed work. Nick enjoyed the tiny interactions of machinery. It felt like a story he could follow. When there was a break, he could find the skip of purpose and put it back together. 

He looked up and smiled, expecting to see a stranger. Nancy was at work, and no one really visited him at his place. It wasn't great for hosting more than one guest he was comfortable spooning in bed. 

Carson Drew was looking at him with the mild censure he'd come to know from the man who'd helped him years ago. Nick felt his expression wobble. He knew Carson wasn't thrilled Nancy was seeing him. People who had been charged with serious crimes were supposed to avoid friendships with former convicts. 

"Good morning," he said. "Are you having car trouble?"

Nancy's father shook his head. He held out an envelope and Nick took it warily. The cash inside was a few hundred dollars, but it felt more significant than that. 

"Good morning. I came to settle up about the repairs to Nancy's car. Charge me what's fair, including labour. I just need an invoice for my insurance company when you figure out the numbers."

A melodramatic twitch of his brain had made Nick think it was a payoff, a kind of bribe to let Nancy down gently and leave town. He was happy it wasn't, but his back was up now. 

"I didn't do that to get paid," he said. "Nancy loves that car. I just wanted to get it running for her."

"All the same, you did the work and used the garage tools and resources. I'd rather pay and know Nancy can bring it in and have it checked out if something about the repair fails," Carson said. "Call that a down payment and work up an invoice for me. You can pass it along through Nancy."

He stepped nearer as they were talking, and he was definitely looking around at the garage and the loft space off to the side. Nick bristled at the scrutiny. He'd had enough of inspections for his whole lifetime. He wasn't living in a palace, but he was working and self-sufficient. The modest goals were actually a big improvement. 

"I can figure out a bill, if that's what you're really after," he said. "But I can't help thinking you want to tell me to stay away from Nancy. And we both know that's not something she'd be okay with either of us trying to decide for her."

The lawyer looked exhausted for a moment, and his sigh was accompanied by a pallor. 

"It would be better if she wasn't dating you," he said. "Not just legally. She's not through coping with her mother's death. Burying it in relationship doesn't mean it's not isolating Nancy. If she just spends all her free time with you, or telling herself she's solving crimes, she can avoid the reality of her grief. She needs to feel it if it's going to heal. She didn't want to see a professional about it. Some of these problems she's having are part of wanting to just skip ahead."

Nick took his hands out of his pockets, regretting his aggressive tone. He didn't want to alienate good people.

"I remember your wife, and I'm really sorry for your loss. But if Nancy wants to handle it her own way, you can't make her do it differently. If she wants to feel normal, is that so wrong?"

Life had enough unfair moments his imagination was the silvered improvement to save his soul. Nick wouldn't judge anyone for wanting a small sweetness for long, hard days.

"It's not wrong. It's not possible and trying might spin her into some decisions that have lasting impact on her happiness. I want to think Nancy is using her brain and her judgment is sound," Carson said. "But she barely knows you. Her life right now is wildly different than anything she pictured. She's meant for bigger things, and instead of being able to walk into them with confidence she's having to slog to get back even."

Nick shook his head. "She's strong. If you're worried about her confidence, you have to believe in her, too."

Gesturing to the extremely modest loft above the garage, Carson implied the smallness of Nick's reinvention. It wasn't swanky but it had a forthright simplicity. He could live where he worked, and not have to worry about finding a landlord who didn't mind his prison time, or the reactions of neighbours. Nancy's father made him feel like he was living in a box. 

"It would be better for you to keep your options open. A small town is great to regroup - for a while. It can be stifling. There's a downside to settling down somewhere, particularly when you're young. There's a lightness to having not much of your own that needs to able to move with you," Carson told him.

It wasn't comforting to be reminded he had basically nothing. Nick replied with a swig of his coffee and a rough pull of his stool to sit down. 

"I'm not trying to marry in. I just want to get to know her. When I push, she holds me back from the things she's not willing to share. You might have to be ready for Nancy moving on faster than you want. I have a theory. I think you were delaying fixing the car, because that kept her from having a way out. I'd be sad if she left my life, but I'm glad she can."

It was just short of a pissing contest now, and the high road was a missed turn too far back to fix it. Nancy's father gave a grimace and walked back into the sun.

Stopped with his hand on the car, Carson turned back with a deep inhale. "You're wrong," he said, clearly fighting some anger that felt older than Nick's presence in Nancy's life. 

"It is my clearest priority Nancy is free to leave this town whenever it suits her, and that she can choose to never return if that's what she wants. I don't have to tell you about the value of freedom. She doesn't realize it, because I've made sure it's always been there. Please don't mistake any of this for my selfish impulse to keep her here. If I didn't have obligations, I'd have moved her away years ago."


End file.
